Two Staff Members Awarded Whalen Scholarships

Deborah Emnett and Jacalyn Spoon are the recipients of the 2000-2001 JJ Staff Scholar Awards. Established in 1997 to honor president emeritus James J. Whalen, the annual awards give $200 to eligible staff members enrolled in a degree program at Ithaca College. The money can be used to defray educational costs.

"This award is a wonderful way to recognize staff members who take on this difficult way to study," says Emnett, executive secretary to the vice president and College counsel. "Having worked in the office of former president Whalen, I'm very proud to have received this award."

Emnett has been working at the College since 1980. She hopes to graduate in May 2001 with a major in psychology. "I'm looking for a liberal arts degree," she says, "and I decided to major in psychology because it's what I was most interested in."

Spoon, an access services assistant in the library, is majoring in anthropology. "I process the reserves," she says. "I'm interested in the things that come by me, and I found that the material I liked to read for fun was anthropological in nature. So naturally I thought it was a good idea to major in something I enjoyed."

Spoon started working at Ithaca College in 1986. She anticipates graduating in summer 2001. "I'm quite proud of having received this award," she says. "It's not a huge amount of money, but being recognized by the College for what I'm doing is very significant to me."

Candidates for a JJ Staff Scholar Award must be full-time staff members of the College working at grades 2 to 16. They must also be matriculating seniors who have completed at least 90 hours toward graduation and are maintaining a GPA of 3.2 or higher. Length of service is an additional consideration.

The awards were presented at the employee picnic in June. Previous recipients are Denise Benjamin, Lola Snow, William Weeks, and Donna Wray.

For more information call Sue Vrzal, chair of the JJ Staff Scholar Committee, at 274-3133.

Photos by Keith Davis